Frederick leiss



(No Model.)

F. LEISS.

MATCH. No.;401,443. Patented Apr. 16, 1889.

lnll ciiiei P/DEQQZE H UNITED STATES PATENT EEICE.

FREDERICK LEISS, OF NE- YORK, N. Y.

MATCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 401,443, dated April 16, 1889. Application fi e January 1'7, 1883. Serial No. 261,062. (No specimens.)

To aZZ whom, it may concern-.-

Be it known that I, FREDERICK LE1ss,a citizen of the United States, residing at New York city, county and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Matches, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, forming a part thereof.

In sealing letters, documents, 850., with wax it is the usual custom to light a lamp or candle and then hold the stick of sealing-wax in the flame thereof until the wax is sufliciently heated to form the desired seal. The inconvenience of this mode of scaling is so considerable that the practice of securely sealing letters with wax has fallen largely into disuse, and they are usually stuck down simply by gum, which may be loosened by a little heat and moisture, or by moisture alone, and the letterssurreptitiouslyopened and the contents read or abstracted, and when the letters are rescaled the persons for whom they are intended cannot detect the fraud which has been practiced.

The object of my invention is to obviate this inconvenience by providing sealing-wax matches, which can be sold so cheaply and which are so convenient in use that they will be extensively adopted for sealing letters, documents, &c., with wax, and thus restore the ancient custom of securely scaling such papers.

In carrying my invention into effect I pro vide matches of any kind with collars, glob ules, or balls of wax. These balls are preferably near the ends of the matches, to which the substance by which the matches are ignited is applied, so that when a match is lighted in the usual way the war; will be heated by the flame of the match, and maybe applied to the letter or document, which is to be sealed directly from the match. The shape or size of the collar or ball of wax is immaterial; but the shape thereof will preferably be round, or nearly so, and the quantity will preferably be sufiicient to make two or three seals.

In the drawings, 1) denotes a match, and a a globule or ball of wax applied thereto near the end thereof containing the igniting substance. The balls of wax are applied to the matches when the wax is somewhat heated or softened, and they are therefore securely held in place when .the wax becomes hard.

The matches may be of wax, wood, or of any suitable substance of which matches are commonly made. The wax globules are attached directly to the stems or bodies of the matches, as shown in the drawing.

Having thus described my invention, I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent As a new article of manufacture, a match provided with a globule or ball of sealing-wax attached directly to the stem or body thereof, substantially as set forth.

FREDERICK LEISS.

Witnesses:

JAMES J. KIBLEN, I'I. HENRIQUES, JOSEPH E. MCKENNA. 

